Rear view mirror and mounting means therefor



Aug. 23, 1938. A. D. KONDRATH REAR VIEW MIRROR AND MOUNTING MEANSTHEREFOR Filed Oct. 25, 1957 Patented Aug. 23, 1938 REAR VIEW MIRROR ANDMOUNTING MEANS THEREFOR Andrew D. Kondrath, Chicago, Ill., assignor to vAmerican Automatic Devices 00., Chicago, 111.,

a corporation of Illinois Application October 25, 1937, Serial No.170,756

4 Claims.

My invention relates to rear view mirrors and mounting means thereforand has for its object the provision of a device of this type comprisinga new and improved form and arrangement of parts whereby the device maybe easily and quickly applied in the desired operative position on theedge of the door of an automobile or on an appropriately formed portionof any other support on an automobile or elsewhere. It is one of theobjects of my invention to provide an improved combination of supportingmembers adjustably connected together for holding a mirror or otherobject in position, and particularly for holding a mirror in suchadjusted position on the outer face of the front door of an autmobilethat the driver by glancing at the face of the mirror through the windowopening 01' the door can look directly backwardly along the sideof thecar.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide an improved form ofbracket and supporting arm member connected therewith whereby a singlesecuring part may be effective for attaching the bracketin position on asupport and for looking the arm in adjusted position with respect to thebracket. I

It is another object of my invention to improve devices of this type insundry details hereinafter pointed out. The preferred means by which I80 have accomplished my several objects are illustrated in the drawingand are hereinafter specifically described. That which I believe to benew and desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in the claims.

35 In the drawing,-

Fig. 1 is a side view of a portion of the body of an automobile with myimproved mirror device in position on the front edge of the front door;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of my device in position 40 on a fragmentaryportion of a door, some of the parts being shown in cross section, andchanged positions of some of the parts being indicated by dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken 45 at line 3-3 of Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional viewtaken at line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a. vertical sectional view taken at line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

50 Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken at line 5-6 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawing, in whichcorresponding parts are indicated by the same reference characters, IDin- 65 dicates a portion of the body of an automobile having a frontdoor ll hingedly mounted thereon in any approved manner, such door beingprovided with a plate glass window therein as usual. As is clearly shownin Figs. 2 and 4, the front edge of the door II is provided with a for-6 wardly extending rib or flange 13 upon which I have mounted myimproved supporting bracket 14 and its associated parts.

In the arrangement shown, my improved bracket I4 is in the form of achannel being 10 pressed out of sheet metal so as to provide a short legl5 at one side and a comparatively much longer leg l6 at the oppositeside, the leg I 6 being pressed into the form of a housing openingtoward the leg l5. Within the channel member 15 I4 adjacent to the innerface of the leg I5 I have provided ,a bearing plate I! having a lip ISin the form of a ring or socket extending through an opening in the wallof the leg l6 at 19, the wall of the leg l6 above and below the 20opening at I9 being pressed inwardly opposite the socket portion l8 soas to provide for the ready insertion of an arm into the socket.Adjacent to the socket member I8, I have mounted a locking bolt 20 whichis adjustable by means of screw 25 threads so as to press upon the outerface of the pressure plate 11.

Within the socket provided by the leg I6 and the pressure plate 11, Ihave mounted the end portion 2| of an arm 22 standing in substantiallyvertical position with respect to said end portion.

At its opposite end, the arm 22 is turned again at right angles, beingprovided with a sleeve 23 which is securely mounted upon the arm so asto provide a socket 24 at the end face of the arm. Within the socket 24,I have mounted a heavy coiled spring 25 which bears at its outer endagainst a spherical head 26 formed on the end of a pin 21, a roundedwear plate 28 being interposed between the spring and the head 26 in thearrangement shown. The head 26 is held in position within the socket soas to substantially compress the spring 25 by the spunover front edgeportion 29 of the sleeve 23, the arrangement being such that the pin 2'!is capable of adjustment angularly in all directions with respect to thesleeve 23 up to the limits controlled by the extension of the pin fromthe end of the socket.

The arrangement is such that the pin 21 is held by friction in anyadjusted position to which it is moved with respect to the sleeve 23 andthe arm 22 Upon the outer end of the pin 21 I have mounted a casingmember 30 formed of sheet metal and provided in its front face with amirror 31 dotted lines in Fig. 2. Upon the pin 21 at opposite faces ofthe wall of the casing to I have mounted a washer 32 of ordinaryconstruci as to insure that there shall be a-tight Joint between the pin21 and the casing member 20.

when the bracket I4 is mounted in position upon the front edge of thedoor I I, a piece of fiber 34 is preferably inserted between the face ofthe door and the pressure plate l'l, as is best shown in Fig. 4. Thelocking bolt 20 is then moved toward the pressure plate I! so asto pressthe edge of the plate firmly against the rib or flange I! of the doorand at. the same time to press'the lip l8 against the face of theturned-end portion 2| "of the arm 22. When the locking bolt 20 istightened, the bracket I4 is held securely against movement with respectto the door and the arm 22 is held securely against movement withrespect to the bracket. The grip of the lip ll! of the pressure plateagainst the end portion 2| of the arm is not so strong as to preventswinging movement of-the arm with respect to the bracket whenconsiderable force is applied thereto, but it is sumcient for holdingthe arm in the desired adjusted position under normal conditions of use.

With the mirror mounted in position upon the outer face of the glass l2of the door, the arm can be swung to the desired adjusted position bythe application of the required pressure thereto, and the casing 30 andglass ll can be adjusted to the desired angular position bothhorizontally and vertically with respect to the arm for holding themirror in such position as to enable the driver to see backwardly alongthe side of the car. The arrangement of my device is such that thedevice as a whole can be very quickly and very easily attached inposition upon the front edge of the door of a car, regardless of whetherthe door opens forwardly or opens backwardly, the position of the mirrorbeing such that it'does not interfere in any way with the opening orclosing movements of the door. p

While I prefer to employ the form of device as shown in my drawing andas above described, it is to be understood that my invention is notlimited thereto except so far as it may be so limited by the claims, itbeing understood that changes might well be made from the arrangementshown without departing from my inventlon. I claim:

1. In an adjustable mounting device for a mirror and the like, thecombination of a bracket member in the form of a channel, a bearingplate arranged adjacentto the inner face of one of the legs of saidchannel and having a socket portion extending through an opening in saidleg, adjustable locking means carried by said leg for moving saidbearing plate into gripping relation of glass or other suitable materialas is indicated with respect to the other leg for clamping the bracketin position on the edge of a support extending into said channel, and anarm swingingly mounted in the socket portion of saidbearingarrangedadjacent to the inner face of one of the legs of saidchannel and having a socket portion extending through an opening in saidleg, a locking bolt secured by screw threads in an opening in said legfor moving said bearing plate into for clamping the bracket in positionon the edge of a support extending into the channel, and an armswinglngly mounted in the socket portion of said bearing plate on theouter face of said gripping relation with respect to the other leg firstnamed leg and arranged so that said locking bolt when tightenedforclamping the bracket in position serves to hold said arm from swingingwith respect to the bracket. ,l

3. In an adjustable mounting device for a mirror and the like, thecombination of a bracket 1 comprising two plates in spaced relationopposite to each other and connected at their edges in the form of achannel adapted for mounting on the edge of ,a support, a bearing platein such channel arranged for a pivotal connection with one of the platesof the channel by'means of a loop on one of said plates extendingthrough an opening in the other plate, an arm having a turned endportionextending into said loop for pivotally mounting the arm on saidbracket,'and adjustable means for applying heavy pressure on the face ofsaid bearing plate for tightening said loop about said arm andtighteningthe bearing plate against the face of the support upon whichthe channel is mounted.

4; In an adjustable mounting device for. a mirror and the like, thecombination of a bracket comprising two plates in spaced relationopposite to each other and connected at their edges in the form of achannel adapted for mounting on the edge of a support, a bearing platehaving one end portion located inside of the channelin position to bearagainst the face of the support upon which the channel 'is mountedandhaving a portion at its opposite end in outwardly spaced relation to.one of said channel plates and shaped so as to provide a socket bycooperation with 7 said channel plate, an arm having a turned end ANDREWD. KONDRATH.

